All unfilled munitions by Syrian Government have been destroyed: OPCW

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on 6 November 2013 said that the  unfilled (Category 3) munitions declared by the Syrian Government have been destroyed.

The international chemical weapons watchdog (OPCW) has completed the key stage towards destroying, the chemicals weapons of Syria. The OPCW has also verified the destruction of some chemical weapons production facilities, which has been rendered inoperable during the first phase of the mission.

These activities were conducted at the Homs cluster of sites that had remained inaccessible for some time due to security reasons.

The joint United Nations-OPCW team is aimed to remove toxic chemicals from Syria by the end of the year for destruction at sea and destroy the entire program by mid-2014.

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in 1997. As of today the OPCW has 190 Member States, who are working together to achieve a world free from chemical weapons. They share the collective goal of preventing chemistry from ever again being used for warfare, thereby strengthening international security.

The Convention contains four key provisions

• Destroying all existing chemical weapons under international verification by the OPCW
• Monitoring chemical industry to prevent new weapons from re-emerging
• Providing assistance and protection to States Parties against chemical threats
• Fostering international cooperation to strengthen implementation of the Convention and promote the peaceful use of chemistry

UN-OPCW relationship agreement

The Relationship Agreement between the United Nations and the OPCW was concluded with the United Nations in 2000 and entered into force in 2001. This was the first such agreement.

The Relationship Agreement was approved by the OPCW Conference of the States Parties in decision on 17 May 2001 and by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution on 7 September 2001.

Non-Member Countries of OPCW
• Signatory Countries, which have not yet ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, are Israel and Myanmar.
• The countries that have neither signed nor acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention are Angola, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan.

If you have any Question/Point on the above information, please ask/discuss it in the Current Affairs